Machine for decorticating plants.



No. 806,429. PATENTBD DEC. 5,1905.

ens. REMIREZ.

MACHINE FOR DEGORTIOATING PLANTS. APPLICATION FILED A.UG.17,1903.

WITNESSE D a a 2% i' s l i S E INVENTOH I i H" v MM umi A; ATTOHNE rsN0. 806,429. PATENTED DEC. 5, 1905.

G. G. REMIREZ.

MACHINE FOR DEGORTIOATING PL AN TS. APPLICATION FILED AUGI 17 1903.

H u L 4 SHEB-TS -SHEET P lllllililllllh umrlmm No. 806,429. PATENTBDDEC. 5, 1905."

l G. G. REMIREZ. ,MAGHINB FOR DEGORTIGATING PLANTS.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

'APPLIOATION FILED AUQ;I7,1903.

; INVENTOH A44 Arron/v5 rs which at one end has suitable bearings A for.the shafts. of sprocket-wheels B B.

UN ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAVO GONZALEZ REMIREZ, or MEBIDA, MEXICO.

No. 806,429. I

To all whom it mdyhonerni Be it'known that I, GUSTAVO GoNzALna REMIREZ,a citizen of the-Mexican Republic,

and a'resident of, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico,-

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forDecorticating Plants, of which the following-is a specification.

My invention relates to machines-for crushing or decorticating .theleaves of various plants with the object of preparing them .for

, spinning purposes.

The'object of my present inventionis to pro vide a simple, compact, andefficient machine for the above-indicated purposes.

The invention will be'fully described here-v 4 is a cross-section takenon line 4 .4 of Fig.

2. Fig. 5 is a detailed outside view of a chain-link employed in themachine. Fig. 6 is an inside view of the same chain-link. Fig. 7 is across-section of said chain-link, taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 isan outside view of a link of the chain which cooperates with the onewhose links are illustrated by Figs. 5, 6, and 7 Fig. 9 is an insideview of the chainlink shown in Fig. 8, andFig. 10 is a crosssectiontaken on line 1O 10 of Fig. 9.

The machine comprisesa suitable frame A,

These sprocket-wheelsare all located in thesame vertical plane, andthereare four sprocket-wheels B, which serve ascarriers and guides for achain 0, the links of which are illustrated by Figs. 8, 9, and 10.Eachof said chain-links is substantially smooth upon its inner surface,except that a recess D is provided, whichv is adapted to be engaged bytheteethof the sprocket-wheels B. The outer surfaces of the chain-linksare grooved, as is clearly shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. In addition tothis the links .are provided with projections E, which are adapted torest on a stationary guide F, ar-

ranged betweenthe two upper sprocket-wheels B. Thus the upper run of thechainC will be evenly supported. There are two sprocket- Specificationof Letters Patent. lippliation has August 17, 903. Serial No. 169,7 03.

., dicated by the arrows in Fig. 1.

. MACHINE FOR DEGORTICATING PLANTS.

Patented Dec.

the projections E are omitted and that the outer surface of' each linkis so formed that the links of the upper chainC will project with theirteeth between those of the links of the lower chain. (See Figs. 5, 6,and 7.) The chains in operation travel in the direction in- The materialin the form ofleaves is introduced where the two chains run together,and the operator so feeds the leaves that they will be engaged about atthe center, so that the leaves will ex- .tend to either side of thechains.

Owing to the intermeshing of the chain-links, the leaves will be carriedalong positively and while the leaves are being held between thechains'and the lower chain rests on the guide F a crushing action isefiected by the following instru mentality.

In the frame A is journaled a crushingwheel G, the shaft G of which isprovided with a pulley G by means of which motion may be imparted to thecrushingwheel G. This wheel carries on its periphery knives or blades H,which'extend lengthwise and which project to a smaller distance from theaxis at The knives are adapted to cooperate which is the axis of theshaft G, and this crushing-surface is cylindrical, so that there isformed between said surface and the knives a passage or throat, thewidth of which decreases from the-inlet-toward the outlet. As shown inFig. 3, one portion of the leaves carried along bythe chains 0 G hangsin the plane passing throughthe shaft G, as shown in Fig. 3.

The sprocket-wheels B B, which are located toward the outlet of theapparatus, are mounted on shafts, each of which carries asecondsprocket-wheel K K, respectively, and these structed exactly in the samemanner as the chains 0 '(Ji-that is to'say, their adjacent runsintermeshand the upper run of the lower chain L is supported by astationary guide N. The plane in which the chains L L are arranged andthe plane of the chains 0 C are preferably on opposite sides of avertical plane passing through the shaft G; but in any event the twosets of chains are arranged in different planes, so that the second setof chains will take hold of the material which has been subjected to theaction of the first crushing-wheel G and will carry the leaves to thesecond crushing-wheel O. This wheel is constructed in the same manner asthe wheel Gr, but rotates in the opposite direction. In connection withthe second crushing-wheel there is also provided a stationary crushingmember P and a table Q for supporting that portion of the leaves whichis not subjected to the action of the second crushing-wheel. ltwill beunder-. stood by reference to Fig. 1 that the leaves are taken hold ofby the chains L L before the chains C C have released the leaves.

The bearings of the sprocket-wheels are preferably adjustable, as shown,so that the tension of the chains may be regulated. The drivingmechanism of the sprocket-wheels may be of any suitable description. Ihave shown a shaft R, with pulleys R, on which shaft is carried abeveled pinion R meshing with a beveled gear S on a shaft S, whichcarries the upper sprocket-wheel M. This shaft also carries a spur-gearS meshing with a spur-gear T on the shaft T of the lefthandsprocket-wheel M. The other sprocketwheels are rotated simply throughthe medium of the respective chains.

It will be understood that the material enters at the right in Fig. 1and is carried along by the chains C G, which, owing to theirintermeshing teeth, have a very firm grip on the material. As the leavespass between the crushing memberI and the crushing-wheel G they areexposed on one side of the chains 0 C to the action of the blades orknives H, and it will be observed that the crushing action increasesgradually, since the throat between the knives and the stationarycrushing member decreases in width. While this crushing action takesplace the chains which hold the leaves are firmly supported both againstdownward and against lateral movement by the guide F. After thiscrushing action has been completed and while the leaves are still beingheld by the chains C C the leaves are seized at a different point by thechains L L,whicl1 then bring into operative relation to thecrushing-wheel 0 those portions of the leaves which have not beenoperated upon by the crushing-wheel G. In this case also the chains arefirmly supported and held against swaying at those points where theyhold the leaves in operative relation to the crushing-wheel. Finally,the leaves are discharged from the machine at the point where the chainsL L separate. The improved machine is very simple and compact, and owingto the similarity of the several parts repairs are easily made, ifnecessary.

I desire to particularly point out the great compactness of the machine,which is obtained by placing the wheels G O at the center of the machinewith their axes in a vertical plane which lies between those in whichthe chains C C on one hand and L L on the other hand are arranged. Infact, in practice the axes of the wheels G O are in exact alinement.Each of the crushing-wheels G O is located partly between the upper andlower runs of the chains 0 L, respectively. Thus the width of themachine is but slightly in excess of that required for the operation ofone of the crushing-wheels, and the length of the machine is alsocomparatively small. Another feature to which I wish to call particularattention is the fact that the conveyingchains C C have their contiguousruns located at a level which is slightly higher than the operativeupper portion of the adjacent crushing-wheel G. The same remark appliesas to the relative position of the chains L L and the crushingwheel O.Owing to this arrangement, the fibers which have been subjected to theaction of the crushing-wheel G are readily seized by the chains L L andthe untreated portions of the leaves properly presented to the secondcrushing-wheel 0 without the use of any intermediate device fortransferring the leaves from the first set of conveying-chains C C tothe second set of chains L L.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature ofmy invention.

I have provided spring-pressed rollers U, which bear upon the uppersurface of the lower reaches of chains C and L at those points wheresaid chains are gripping the leaves during their decortication by thecrushing-wheels. Thisconstruction assures a firm grip of the leafbetween the chains.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with two sets of conveyersarranged to successively carry the material, of crushing-wheels arrangedin operative relation to the respective sets of conveyers and projectingbetween the runs of one of said conveyers, the said runs being straightand arranged on opposite sides of the crushing-wheels axis.

2. The combination of superposed intermeshing chains adapted to seizeand carry the material, the links of the lower chain being provided withlateral projections, a stationary guide arranged to engage the saidprojections at the upper run of the lower chain, means for pressingagainst the lower run of the upper chain toward said stationary guideand a crushing-wheel adjacent to said chains.

3. The combination with two sets of superposed conveyers arranged tosuccessively carry the material, of crushing-wheels ar- IIO ranged inoperative relation to the respective- 4. The combination of intermeshingchains adapted to seize and carry the material, the

links of one of said chains having projections, a stationary guideadapted to engage said projections at that'run of said chain which isadjacent to the other chain, and a crushingwheel adjacent to theengaging runs of the chains; I y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 5 my hand-in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses. I

etsmvo GONZALEZ REMIREZ.

' Witnesses: J GEN LOTKA, EUGENE EBLE.

